Minn. Law Would Require Parental Notification on All Child Health Care

You know the drill -- this means no privacy for teens on STI treatment, etc.

“I think probably most people would be surprised to learn that they do not have access to their minor children's health records without their children's permission. That has been the status of the law in Minnesota for some time, and what this bill does is reverse that presumption,” says state Sen. David Hann (R) of Eden Prairie, Minn.

And to listen to him, you'd think this was a huge injustice. So much of one, in fact, that he's written a bill to undo all the hard work lawmakers have done to protect kids from abusive parents, or even just the fear of how a parent might react. The bill would not only open up a child's medical records to his or her parents, but would require parental involvement in any and all physician visits—including, but not limited to, STI testing, birth control, pregnancy and abortion.

Sen. Hann calls it a “matter of common sense.” Why wouldn't we want parents involved in their children's health care?

But Sen. John Marty (DFL) of Roseville is just as skeptical as we are. “We changed the law in order to protect these kids. We did it in order to protect them, to make sure they'll feel comfortable going to the doctor.”

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This translates to "If more parents were required to go to doctor visits, specifically related to sex, then their kids wouldn't want to have sex because they'd be too embarrassed to talk to their parents about going to the doctor." --or at least that's what he's hoping. The reality is, more kids will continue to have sex. They just won't be safe or smart about it because that would require involving their parents.

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Rayne Millaray is a wild, 30-something, sex enthusiast who's been "just one of the guys" for as long a she can remember. She's been having sex since 1996, blogging about her sex life since 2005, advocating for a sex-positive society since 2008 and working in the adult industry since 2010. Her writing is published on various blogs around the web. She writes a weekly column for Albany's #1 rock station (Q103 Albany) which focuses on sexuality, sex and relationships. Rayne is, without a doubt, the girl your mother warned you about. And she loves it.